Rune medallion
by fallen-from-darkness
Summary: It takes place between the second and the third book, while Haplo is still on Pryan. By the way I want to ask you to be patient with my grammar and vocab mistakes because i'm not a native speaker. I hope you enjoy it:]
1. Chapter 1

**THE RUNE-SHAPED MEDALLION**

**CHAPTER 1:**

**Walking along the narrow path, surrounded by high hedges, Clauren was trying to hear any unusual sound around her. Her leg was hurt during her fight with the dragon and she was sure that it was now following her. She didn't have the time to heal herself, so she just kept on with blood dripping behind her. She was so close to the last gate that she couldn't let herself get caught now. She had been half-walking, half-crawling along the same path for about a mile and she thought that she finally had to turn right.**

**After another ten minutes she reached a crossroad and she took the turning on the right without hesitation. But after another 200 feet she suddenly heard something on her left. She stared at the hedge intently and then drew a rune on it. The tattoos on her body glowed in red and blue and suddenly the hedge became invisible, but only for her. On the other side she could see a _kain _a giant ant-like insect one meter tall, two meters long, with thin poisonous horns. Only once they have struck her and she would be dead by ten minutes.**

**Clauren glanced at the kain for a moment, considering her options. She could try to fight it but she was too exhausted and she would need her magic to face possible obstacles ahead. She decided that she couldn't waste time and power on a creature that didn't even see her… yet.**

**Clauren took a deep breath and went on as quietly as she could. Her blood, however, obviously attracted the kain and it started to make its way through the thick hedge towards her. Clauren swore under her breath and broke in a run. She took the first turning on the right that she saw and then turned back to the left, trying to confuse the creature. The paths were growing lighter as she was getting closer to the last gate but it was still gloomy. Due to that fact she almost collided with a baby dragon, alone.**

**She was staring at it for a moment then she took a step closer to it. It didn't try to reach her, even though it could if it had stretched its head. It was injured and that made the situation easier for Clauren. She raised her hands, the tattoos on her body glowing, and she cast a complicated rune on it. Its eyes were transfixed for a moment then it looked at her intently and said:**

"**What does my mistress want from me?" Its voice was deep even though it was a baby.**

"**I want you to carry me on your back in the directions I command" Clauren answered and slid on its back.**

**The baby dragon was wounded but the magic made it forget about its own condition in order to follow its master's orders. It stood up and started running in the direction that Clauren had pointed out – to the light.**

**She traveled half a mile on the dragon's back but suddenly, as they were approaching a wider corridor, she felt the spell lift from the dragon. She jumped off it just in time: it suddenly spread its wings and started hitting itself in the hedges. It made such a great bit of rumble that Clauren, fearing that it could attract more dragons, tried to get away. **

**However, on her way back to the shadows, she saw the kain, but this time it had a friend. They were approaching her quickly. She ran in the opposite direction, towards the wider path, gasping for breath. By the sound of the wings she guessed that the baby dragon had joined the chase. Clauren was hurt so she had no chance in escaping them. She had to turn and face them with nothing but her magic… and her dagger. **

**She reached the wider path which was perpendicular to the one she had followed so far. Clauren stopped to turn her face to the creatures behind her but froze stunned. For a brief moment she saw where the wide path ended: it was the Last Gate! It was opened and bright light was shining through it. It was about 500 meters away from her.**

**Suddenly she felt a terrible pain in the chest. One of the kain had jumped over her and pushed her to the ground. Its horns were looking for an unprotected by the runes spot, to inject deadly poison in her blood. Clauren took a dagger from her knee-high boot and struck it in the kain's head. It could no longer harm her but as she was trying to put it away from over her she heard a great bit of movement. **

**A dragon, a full-grown one, was approaching. It was wailing loudly. Clauren froze. She felt so much better – killing a kain to be replaced by a dragon. Her clothes were stained with the kain's blood and it smelled so strong that there was no way that she wouldn't be noticed. From under the kain's corpse she barely saw the enormous figure stop close by her wailing loudly. As she was wondering what to do she heard the baby dragon coming closer from the narrow path. For an instant she thought that the dragons would unite against her but with a wave of relief she realized that the grown mother was just looking for her baby and had no interest in killing Patryns.**

**She saw the small figure unite with the larger one and they headed off to the opposite direction from the Gate. She almost laughed from relief as she stood up from the ground and forgetting the wound on her leg ran for the Gate. But she also forgot the other kain. It attacked her in the back, pushing its horn deep in the skin on the back of her left hand – the one space on her skin, that was not covered in runes.**

**Clauren groaned from anger, forced herself to turn and face the kain. Its poison was powerful and would paralyze her body – most importantly her heart – in mostly ten minutes. She knew she didn't have much time, for in the Labyrinth she wouldn't even dream of sleeping the healing sleep on the outside. She suddenly concentrated all her magic in destroying this kain – she might die, but she would take it with her, and she would make it as painful as possible. She was tracing the sigla in the air, her skin glowing red and blue and she let the spell in the kain's direction as powerful as she could. The runes surrounded the giant snake, covered its body and started burning the shell. **

**Satisfied, Clauren turned to face the Last Gate. It wasn't too far and she would be able to reach it if she didn't meet anything on her way. Holding her arm tightly, she tried to run as fast as she could with her wounded leg toward the glowing light. The kain's poison had started crawling up her arm, paralyzing it and fading the runes tattooed upon the skin. Halfway toward the Gate her magic stopped working and she had to rely only on her strength. And this wasn't much. With her leg wounded, blood falling from it she hardly moved. **

**_She had fifty more meters to go_. She couldn't stand the pain. She fell to her knees and started crawling to the Gate on four legs. **

**_Forty more meters _- she couldn't balance on her arm either. The poison reached her shoulder. Even if she made it through the Gate she would never heal that damage. She was surprised she was still conscious. **

**_Thirty meters_ – she fell to one side and started pulling herself just with one arm. She knew she looked silly and she couldn't help it. She considered letting go. But she went on**

**_Twenty meters _– she was stunned with horror. Now that she was that close he could see that the Gate wasn't gaping open – there were bars. And she could do magic not better than mensch. Then she saw herself lying dead right in front of the last gate, after all those challenges, she would be stopped by some metal bars. Clauren shrugged and went on. Her right hand had started bleeding too but it wasn't a problem. Her left hand was senseless, and she could feel the poison reaching her chest, her throat, starting to suffocate her.**

**_Ten meters _– She was so close, she had to make it. One more push, and one more. She caught hold of the metal bars, smooth as If they were new. She was lying in front of the Last Gate, so close to freedom. The poison had already reached her heart, and was now reducing the beats slowly, painfully. With her right hand she concentrated on any magic she still possessed and drew a rune on the metal bars. The magic was simple, weak but took the breath out of her. The rune touched the bar and for Clauren's surprise melted the bars. **

**She put her hand on the other side and sensed fresh grass. She pulled hardly her body. She had closed her eyes trying to draw another breath. Her lungs were paralyzed, however, and she was only choking. She felt her body being pulled by gravity. She was rolling on grass; she was probably on the top of some hill. She lay still almost instantly. She was relieved now. She was out of the Labyrinth, she had made it. She felt soul was getting light, lighter than the body. It started floating up, as if through a small hole. She could see herself lying in the grass covered in blood, her poisoned hand turned stone-grey. But Clauren was content – she had beaten the Labyrinth, beaten the Sartan. Or had she? No the Sartan were still out there, enjoying the world they created. **

**She felt something strong catching her. It was like a strong hand pulling her soul back into her body, making her struggle once again. But she didn't protest. With her newly gained powers she forced herself to lift her right arm and place it on her fore head. The pain was blinding, but she hardly cared since she hadn't actually opened her eyes since she melted the bars on the Gate. With her hand on the forehead she had rejoined the circle of life and was now healing herself. The poison was starting to back off. She fell into a healing sleep, knowing that when she awoke she would be completely cured.**


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2:**

**When Clauren awoke, she wasn't quite sure where she was. She briefly remembered that she had been lying in the grass but now it was different. She was on some kind of bed with sheets and she could hear distant voices talking in Patryn language. She now understood that she was rescued. Her powers were still weak but for the first time in her life she felt safe. She opened her eyes and almost instantly regretted it. There was light, probably a sun, that was so bright, that it blinded her. There was nothing like that in the Labyrinth. Still Clauren forced her eyes to get used to the environment and look around. She was lying in a bed obviously, facing a blank white wall from some smooth rock. **

**Clauren tried to stand up. Her hands at first wouldn't support her but then she gained balance and sat up on the bed. The voices were coming from another room, but there was no door between them so when she stood up, one Patryn- really old with bald head and cold black eyes, headed in her direction. Accustomed to the Labyrinth, the runes on her skin glowed in faint blue, but the glow died almost instantly. She knew the old Patryn would do her no harm.**

**Before Clauren could say anything, however, the old Patryn grabbed her wrist and pulled her out of the bed. She didn't resist but she shook when she stood on her feet, for she hadn't healed completely. The Patryn was pulling her, urging her to walk behind him. She kept on with him, trying not to fall. They passed through a room, (as they were passing, Patryns were turning to look at her) then another room, and then a thin corridor, then they started climbing a narrow, spiral staircase. After what seemed fifty steps, they reached a tower. The Patryn signed her to go in front of him and look out. She was in a city, an enormous city with a fortress and city gates. Below her there were streets, big and small, with Patryns walking along them, not seeing her. Behind the city walls there were some more houses, a forest and a dark enormous shadow, Clauren recognized as the Labyrinth. She shivered at the sight. The Patryn, seeing the look on her face, pointed the Labyrinth and said:**

"**We found you there. You were lying ten meters after the Gate. Can you see the blood? It is yours," he said quietly. There really was a blood stain there. Before Clauren could say anything the Lord added "Never forget."**

**Whatever Clauren was going to say, she swallowed it. She knew what the Lord meant. She also knew that he was a Lord – The Lord of the Nexus. And that was where she was – the Nexus.**

**She looked him, nodded slowly and only said:**

"**Never."**

**Clauren was the youngest Patryn known to escape the Labyrinth. She was seventeen. That was not an age too young to be a Runner, but it was way too young to be a _successful _Runner. That was not the only strange thin about her, however.**** She was, in fact, a complete phenomenon among her people. All Patryns were dark-haired with white tips and black or brown eyed. What differed them from humans, however, were their tattoos. Those were inscribed on every Patryn child's skin right after its birth and were the Patryns' main source of magic. Clauren, on the contrary had none of those. Her hair was blonde, dark blonde, unlike the elves, her eyes were clearly green and her skin - blank. **

**Or at least it was. Whan she was burn, she looked like any human child. Her mother had inscribed the name rune and then the runes around her body almost instantly after Clauren was born. Time had passed since then and for three years Clauren never showed any sign of possessing magic – her runes wouldn't work. Among the rest of the Patryns in the Squatters camp she was considered useless and disposable of, but her mother wouldn't let anyone harm her. Then her mother had died and the Patryns almost left her behind. It was then that she first performed magic. The Squatters changed their minds and put one old man in charge of teaching her how to use rune magic, because she was far behind from the other children her age. She remembered none of those facts. They had been told to her by the old man. He wouldn't speak in front of her about either her mother or her father. All Clauren knew was that when she was born, her mother had given her a medallion with her name, that she would never take off (and even if she tried she wouldn't be able to). She never wanted to know more. She found life much easier without knowing who your relatives were and how they died. All she needed to know is that she caught up with the rune magic very soon and even went ahead of the other kids. She found out that she could use the runes on her body, but she could also remove them from her skin with magic. Nobody ever knew how she did it. She didn't know it herself.  
**

**Her Lord was particularly interested on that fact and spent a lot of time researching the matter. This had helped _her_ spend more time with Xar and eventually ask him question about the worlds and the Sartan. She learned that Xar had one of his servants – some Patryn called Haplo - exploring the four worlds that the Sartan created – Arianus, realm of air; Pryan, realm of fire; Abarrach, realm of stone; and Chelestra, realm of water. This servant was currently on Pryan and had already explored Arianus. There, he had found only one Sartan, disguised as a human.**

**Clauren found that information quite surprising. Ever since she walked, or more accurately crawled, out of the Labyrinth, Clauren was thinking about the Sartan. Walking out of her ancient prison was like relieving her from her burden and if she wanted to live, she would need a new objective to live for. And this objective was the Sartan.**

**Clauren was quite jealous of Haplo because he would be the first Patryn to face a living talking thinking Sartan, if there were any left. Xar obviously knew that but said nothing. He had chosen Haplo for his quick thinking, power of magic, ability to stay in the shadows, but most important of all, he was chosen for his loyalty to Xar.**

**That was an interesting thing that Clauren considered on her first day in the Nexus. Every Patryn in it had a special respect for this man. She knew respect for him even before she escaped the Labyrinth, but now she understood why. Xar was the only person among the Patryns, who dared go back to the Labyrinth. Clauren felt great respect for him, but also felt that it wasn't equal to how her brothers and sisters felt about him. They always did what Xar told them without questioning, ignoring whatever they thought and felt. Clauren knew that she would do anything she could to satisfy Xar, but if his will came across her own plans, she would abandon him.  
**

**And Xar knew that.**


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3:**

** Xar was sitting in front of the fire in his house, watching the flames burn, pretending to think over something he had already decided on. He had just finished filling his journal, an activity he had done every day since he escaped the Labyrinth. He was thinking about what he witnessed today. A young girl, Clauren, had managed to escape the Labyrinth recently, and Xar had decided to take care of her adaption to the Nexus personally. And he hadn't been wrong about it. She was only seventeen and she could do magic as complicated as thirty year olds could. She had told him about her past and he had found that quite amusing too. She had been born with no magic, but with a medallion with her name on it (on Patryn language "clauren" means "a shadow"). Xar had looked at her medallion closely. It had some really powerful magic cast on it. Xar was sure that if he wanted he would be able to activate**** it, but he decided that it was Clauren's meda****ion in the end, and it was up to her to learn how to activate the magic.**

** Another interesting fact that Xar found about Clauren was her ability to learn quickly. Ever since she went out of the Labyrinth, she had spent a lot of time in the Sartan (now Patryn) library, studying mensch languages. The outcome was that she had now almost mastered all human, elven, and dwarven languages, and even some Sartan.**

** Earlier that day, Clauren had come to ask him about the elven magic. Xar knew very well that the Sartan books had a lot of information on the topic, but she had obviously come to ask him about more. That's when Xar decided that was the time to start a delicate conversation:**

** "Well, Clauren, most of the information I just gave you was in Haplo's report on the world of Arianus. Still, you had questions. Maybe there is more infornation that we can get. And I am interested in what Haplo will bring from Pryan..." Xar was watching carefully at Clauren's expression. She was sitting in a chair opposite him and she was staring intently at her hands, her face grim. "I wonder," he started but then hesitated. Would he be too direct? He risked, "if there are any Sartan left. No, not in Pryan. In the whole universe created by them. And if there are not, what caused them to disappear." He looked at Clauren again. Her expression had changed. He could feel anger flowing from her into hot waves.**

** "Yes." She said suddenly, softly, "I was wondering the same myself. But from what you, Lord, tell me, the realms are big. It is impossible for one person, being a demigod or not, to explore all of them and find the Sartan."**

** That was just what Xar had wanted to hear. And he was now seeming to consider whether to send Clauren to explore the Death's Gate with Haplo. But inside he had already decided. He had to admit that he had been trying hard to convince himself that he was sending Clauren for good reasons. He was telling himself that he chose her because of her ability to hide her tattoos and, consequently, to pretend to be a human, even a Sartan. Xar was also telling himself that her quick learninig would be useful, because she would be able to study a greater part of a realm in less time. He was even telling himself that her magic, being stronger than the average Patryn, would be useful in possible difficult situations. The last was, of course, a lie that nobody would believe. Even the weakest Patryn child would be able to beat the weak mensch at magic.**

** So whatever Xar was telling himself, no matter how hard he was trying to convince himself that Haplo really needed help, he knew his true reasons: Xar was afraid. No, he was not afraid. The Lord of the Nexus had fear of nothing. What Xar felt was deep, strong doubt. He knew that there was something terribly wrong with that girl. He could sense it with every nerve, every rune on his body, every second spent with her. And still, she was sitting opposite him, staring at her hands, asking him for advice.**

** He would send her to Abbarach. He had decided that long ago. He needed a rest, he needed to spend some time to calm himself down and look at the matter from another point of view. But he wouldn't let Craulen travel with Haplo. Haplo was his most loyal and reliable servant and Xar would need advice from someone unaffected...**

**(this is a letter written by Xar to Clauren the same night): **

************** Dear Daughter,**

**************  
I know that I should have told you all this in person, but as you know, I have an urgent engagement in the Labyrinth. I really regret that I won't be by your side when you start this difficult task, but it's something I cannot change. **

************** I hope you remember the time when we were talking about the Death's Gate. I hope you remember what I told you about its spinning and how to pass it. I hope you remember, because you will need it now. As you know my servant, Haplo, left for the Realm of Fire a while ago. Now my reliable sources tell me that he has passed through the Death's Gate on his way back to the Nexus with his report on Pryan. When he doesn't find me, he will decide to sail his ship to the realm of stone, Abbarach. And what I want you to do is to go there before him. A ship has been constructed, especially for the purpose, and it has been carved with runes to protect and guide it. I want you to use this vessel to go to Abbarach and study it. While Haplo's job on the world is to find the Sartan and tell me about them, as well as cause any kind of chaos for me, to prepare the mensch for my arrival, your job is to study the world. I need everything you can find about the mensch, their magic, their beliefs, hopes and fears. I also want you to use your tatoo-hiding magic to disguise as a Sartan, and if possible to pretend to be one of them, and understand all you can about their universe, about the other realms, and most importantly what they know about us, Patryns.**

************** I trust you will do that with no problems. I want to give you some advice before you leave too. I have put my trust in your skill in magic, in your quick thinking, quick learning, and loyalty. I want you to use all of these qualities when necessary, but I forbid you, I beg you, do not uncover your identity. No matter what, do not show anybody that you are a Patryn; nobody needs to know it _yet_. And my last advice – do not reveal this guise for Haplo either. He does not need to know that I have arranged someone to help him. I want you to keep an eye on him (and his dog), but never get too close.**

************** I put my trust in your hands, and may your path be clear and your journey successful.**

************** Your Lord:**

**Xar, Lord of the Nexus**

Hey, let me know what you think, is it good or bad, or if you have read it please say smth doesn't matter I won't offend...

btw the next chapter might take a while...


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